So I was recently watching this video:

 

 

1. Why molten salt in particular?

 

2. How do they decide the size of the mirrors involved? On a related note, would it be significantly more expensive, less efficient, or both, to use one giant concave mirror than several flat ones? Or is there a risk a giant concave mirror would break?

8 minutes ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

So I was recently watching this video:

 

 

1. Why molten salt in particular?

 

2. How do they decide the size of the mirrors involved? On a related note, would it be significantly more expensive, less efficient, or both, to use one giant concave mirror than several flat ones? Or is there a risk a giant concave mirror would break?

1) remains liquid at higher temperature 

2) How would you make a giant concave mirror? Even in comparatively much smaller telescopes, mirrors are sometimes in several pieces.

I didn't watch the video, but are you sure the mirrors are flat? They could be, because that would be much, much cheaper and the target is pretty big, but usually they are slightly concave.

18 minutes ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

On a related note, would it be significantly more expensive, less efficient, or both, to use one giant concave mirror than several flat ones? Or is there a risk a giant concave mirror would break?

It would be massively more expensive to try and construct a single parabolic mirror, if it were even possible. Using multiple mirrors also makes it easy to track the position of the sun to maximise output.

8 minutes ago, Strange said:

It would be massively more expensive to try and construct a single parabolic mirror, if it were even possible. Using multiple mirrors also makes it easy to track the position of the sun to maximise output.

Flashed on that great line from Frieda on Orange is the New Black, about getting rid of a dead body. "I'd know better than to waste my time digging one six-foot hole when I could dig six one-foot holes. That's just murder math."

I felt reminded of this thread by another thread.

 

I now have another follow-up question; what kind of materials would a town/state/country need in order to make these kinds of solar collectors (relatively) inexpensively? Would used tinfoil be useful for them? Apart from tinfoil, would it be more expensive, or less, to melt down old aluminum cans to make them, or to purchase cast aluminum in bulk for the same purpose? Are maintenance costs comparable to nuclear or lower?